Thursday, July 21, 2011

Lake Arrowhead Village

Yesterday, Tessa and I drove up the mountain to visit Ryan's mom and her husband, Nauni and G-Pa. They have a family cabin in Running Springs and were doing some summer cleaning, clearing away pine needles, checking for broken tree branches, and doing minor baby-proofing (so maybe we can start spending more time up there this fall!). Nauni, Tessa, and I left G-Pa and his buddy behind at the cabin and ventured out to Lake Arrowhead Village.

I love the village. It is peaceful and quaint. I have many great memories of time spent in Lake Arrowhead throughout my childhood, high school, and a trip, post-college, with my coffee talk girls. I probably haven't been there in about 10 years, though, and there have been quite a few changes! Unfortunately, due to a beetle infestation and the poor economy, some of the changes aren't great, but one new thing is, there is now an amusement area for children. There is a little park with a playground, a mini golf course, and some rides!

We spent several hours there yesterday. Nauni doesn't get to see Tessa very often, so it was important to spend some good time together! We started off at a little tea shop where we sipped on iced lattes and shared a delicious lemon poppy seed cookie. Nauni shared some with Tessa, just for the special occasion! We then found a neat toy store. It had a little book section, which, anyone who knows Nauni can imagine how much time we spent there! We also walked around a looked at all the puppets and stuffed animals. Tessa left with a new book, The Princess ABCs, a calico kitten puppet, and a new pool toy. You've gotta love shopping with grandmas!

After we left the toy shop, we discovered the amusement area. Tessa made a beeline for the carousel, which, unfortunately, was closed. The music was still playing, so my music-loving daughter danced along for awhile! We then headed into the shop where ride tickets were sold, and Tessa discovered funny mirrors! She LOVED them! She ran from mirror to mirror, laughing and laughing at her reflection! She also loved the clown paintings with cut-out faces (you know what I'm talking about?) and played peek-a-boo with Nauni, and laughed and laughed!

We took Tessa to the little train next. She did such a great job! My heart was so full watching her go around the track all by herself! She was so brave and had a great time! It was not easy for me to watch my little independent girl go on a ride alone, but she loved it!

After the train ride, we walked down to the lake and watched the boats and ducks. It was a beautiful day. One I will remember for a long time and will love to share with Tessa when we visit Arrowhead as she grows.

Since our weeks are pretty much the same ~ park, library, pool, church~ I decided I'm going to aim to write about interesting things we do that aren't part of the same ol', same ol'.